Native American graduate classes to be offered in the fall

The push for more Native American-oriented courses at Central Michigan University will have some help in the fall.

New interdisciplinary graduate courses within CMU’s Master of Arts in Humanities degree program hope to provide a better understanding of Native American culture and issues.

Topics will include Native American history, contemporary culture, film, religion and indigenous literature.

Colleen Green, director of Native American Programs, said she is glad to see additions to CMU’s class offerings and the undergraduate interdisciplinary minor in American Indian studies.

“In general, I think it’s good to have more diversity here at Central and not just for Native Americans, but also African Americans and Latinos,” she said. “I love the fact that CMU started with adding Native American classes because we are on the historic reservation, so it’s a great opportunity.”

The classes will begin in the fall semester, according to Ronald Primeau, English Language and Literature professor and director of CMU’s Master of Arts in Humanities program.

Green, who is also a graduate student, plans to incorporate the new classes into her own degree as electives. She anticipates a large number of students wanting to be a part of the new courses being offered.

Josh Hudson, a Mount Pleasant sophomore and Bay Mills Indian Community member, said he believes the Native American-oriented classes he has taken at the undergraduate level have benefited him in learning about other Native American cultures and societies.

“I feel they are very important, especially since Central is close to very rich resources with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe,” he said. “I also feel that if Central emphasizes a relationship between a nation and the university, that it must educate its students about the culture of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people.”

CMU requires an elementary education in the Ojibwe language for all American Indian Studies minors. However, Hudson would like to see more advanced classes offered in the future.

“Although there are a few classes offered, elementary competency is hard to attain because Ojibwe is such a complex language that requires many hours of listening,” he said.

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